Guest Editors
Anirudh K. Singh
School of Sciences, SAM Global University, Raisen, India
Dr. Singh is an Associate Professor in the School of Sciences, SAM Global University, Raisen, India. He is a Molecular Biologist with a particular interest in understanding the molecular basis of host-microbial interaction, emphasizing microbial adherence to host cells. His laboratory recently has forayed into the development of molecular diagnostics. It is currently working on developing Next Generation Sequencing and quantitative PCR-based diagnostics assays for cancer and infectious diseases.
Ashish Kumar Vyas
JC Martin Center for Liver Research and Innovations, Kolkata, India
Dr. Vyas is working as an Assistant Professor at JC Martin Centre for Liver Research and Innovations, Kolkata, India. He has been working in Hepatitis B and hepatitis E mother-to-baby vertical transmission and the mechanism of HBsAg seroconversion in chronic HBV patients. His lab's current focus is to determine the role of the placenta and investigate the factors responsible for the vertical transmission of HBV. The vertical transmission of HBV is one of the main causes of chronic HBV infection globally, leading to severe liver diseases such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.
Collection Overview
Infection with Hepatitis B is a severe global health threat. One of the primary causes of liver damage, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular cancer is chronic Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. As per an estimate by the World Health Organization, 257 million people live with chronic HBV globally, and over 780,000 human lives are lost to this infection. While no permanent cure is available for CHB infection, antiviral therapies, especially nucleoside analog therapy, effectively control the virus and reduce the risk of liver damage. However, the long-term use of antiviral therapy is associated with side effects and drug resistance and may outweigh the benefit. Determining the length of the therapy and the time to discontinue it. Hence, becomes critical.
The levels of HBV markers, including HBcAg, HBV RNA, pgRNA, and cccDNA, are indicators of active replication/viral load and are used to assess the effectiveness of antiviral therapy. However, quantitative determination of these markers is challenging and often requires multi-pronged strategies. This special issue aims to update the recent advancements in quantifying viral antigens/markers to help determine the optimal time to stop antiviral therapy based on these markers. We invite researchers and clinicians to share the advanced methodologies with improved sensitivities, faster turnaround time, and ease of use to quantify these markers in HBV.
